Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) has announced its plans to build nine pilot villages in northern Mali.

The initiative will be implemented in support of the thousands who have been displaced by conflict in the region, UAE state news agency, WAM, reported.

The project, which is anticipated to cost more than $598,982 (AED2.2m), will shelter around 38,625 people.

According to ERC, each village will include a school, a dispensary, an artesian well, and a mosque, as well as small projects to serve as source of income for those who have been displaced by the civil war and conflict in northern Mali.

The ill effects of war have been compounded by natural disasters, like drought and desertification, resulting in food shortages, ERC added.

Partnering with international and local humanitarian organisations, the ERC has reportedly embarked on a number of development projects designed to help the population face difficult living conditions.

ERC will be implementing the project involving the pilot villages together with the Mali Red Cross. Kidal and Timbuktu are among the areas they will cover.

Emirates Red Crescent has already started on the arrangements for Phase 1, which includes five villages.